The Island of Happiness
by BlockoWorld
Summary: When Chelsea embarks on a journey to begin a new life, she didn't expect to begin it on a friendly island in the middle of nowhere, which two years ago had been deserted. While on the island, she experiences many unexpected things.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Only I could have done something as stupid as this. Sell my house, erase my own family name and set sail to worlds unknown.

I had just boarded a rather old, yet rather large boat, on which I would begin my new life on. I was in my cabin when something peculiar happened.

Outside my window, I could hear the distant cry of thunder and lightning together.

_Perfect, a storm_, I thought.

I brushed my chestnut hair back with my hand then tied a red bandanna around my head. It was the same bandanna that my family dog always wore, but I stole it. Of course, no one would have to know about that.

My roommate was already half asleep. Since I had paid next to nothing for this trip, I was paired up with a young, talkative, flirtatious sailor that drove me insane awake and asleep.

But I put up with it. His snoring almost drowned out the sound of the thunder nearing the ship ever so quickly.

Before I knew it, the lights blacked out. My roommate shot up in his bed, and glanced wildly around the room. "Wha' happened?" he asked, still half-asleep.

"We blacked out, that's what happened" I snapped at him. I tried flicking the light switch on and off again, but it was hopeless. I sighed and slumped onto my own bed.

The sailor crept to his feet, and peered out the window.

"Holy- Come and 'ave a look at 'is!" he cried, gesturing for me to come quickly. I did as he asked and stared out the porthole as well.

What I saw has been etched into my mind ever since.

Angrily, waves were crashing against the side of the ship, rocking us out of control. The sky was grey and heavy with rain, which it spat carelessly all over the place.

I caught a glimpse of lightning before a siren rung through my ears.

"_All hands on deck! I repeat- All hands on- er- Hold on to something!!!_" the captain cried through the intercom.

I probably panicked somewhere deep inside, but mostly because I wouldn't be able to start my new life. _What a shame_, was all I thought, thinking without a doubt that this would be the end.

"Come on, I'll get you a life raft" the young sailor said to me, taking my hand and leading me to the deck.

A large line had formed for those who wished to live. The rain was so heavy; I could hardly see anything, though. The wood under my feet was wet and slippery, and I soon felt my head hitting the ground, my hand letting go of the sailor's, and soon I had plunged head-first into the sea. I slowly began to lose consciousness.

This was where it had all started.

I awoke on a beach, my clothes soaked and my mind blank.

I tried getting up, but my legs wouldn't let me. I cursed under my breath and looked around, seeking any sort of help I could get.

Somehow, I thought I'd seen this place before. The beach was small. In the corner stood a purple-roofed shack, and a narrow path ran into the distance a few feet away from me.

I let myself drop back into the shallow water, making a slight effort to crawl up to the shore.

I glanced up, and saw that a young, overall-wearing, blonde man was staring right at me with panic written all over his face.

"Are you okay?" he finally stammered, pulling me to the coastline.

I rolled over onto my back and blinked a few times. My eyes were full of salty water, but I didn't care. Seeing dry land for the first time in who knows how long was refreshing.

"Thank you _so _much!" I cried after a minute's silence, sitting up and flinging my arms around him. I grinned, happy to be alive.

"Y-your welcome…Who are you? What happened?" he asked me.

He had untied his red bandanna, similar to the one on my head, from his neck and used it to help dry me. At least he was trying.

"M-my name…is…Chelsea! And I was on this stupid ship when a storm hit us" I recounted, acting out the lightning hitting the boat.

He laughed, but then looked at me awkwardly as if to ask, _was I not supposed to laugh?_

"I'm Mark. I own a farm just north of here. Come with me, and you can dry off, okay? Then we'll see about when the ship's coming so we can send you home" he smiled sweetly at me. But that happiness turned to confusion when he saw me grimacing.

"Don't make me go home!" I pleaded, almost begging him. I would have gotten on my knees, but my aching legs wouldn't let me.

"W-why not, what's wrong with your home?"

"I-I...I was kind of hoping to go somewhere to start anew on that boat. I really don't have a home to go to, no money, no identification…" I moped.

Mark scrunched up his face in a thoughtful manner.

"I have an idea… But let's get you dried off" he said in a comforting voice.

He stood up and reached out his hand to help me up.

"My legs…" I whispered to myself, trying to lift myself to my knees.

"You can't stand?" Mark asked me. "Wait here!"

And with that, he ran off into the town beyond.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

"What did you bring me here for?" I heard a deep, hoarse voice say behind me. I twisted my body to see who it was. There, with Mark, stood a mountain of a man. His hair was thinning and grey, and his chest was covered in a simple white singlet.

"This is Chelsea, she's the newest victim of a shipwreck" Mark explained to the man.

He looked at me, squinting his eyes slightly.

"And this had what to do with me?" he said in his roar of a voice.

"Her legs are aching, so I was wondering…"

"Say no more" the huge man sighed, and before I knew it, he had hauled me over his shoulder.

Mark was laughing after us.

"My name's Gannon, by the way" he said to me as he carried me through town.

"Nice to meet you" I grinned.

He just grunted in reply, but I knew he didn't mean to offend me.

"Well here we are" Gannon said. I lifted my head to see a large, nicely-constructed house standing in front of a large field. A river was also peacefully running about a kilometre west.

"My pride and joy!" Gannon laughed, interrupting my thoughts.

"What is?" I asked, clueless.

"The house, the stable, the barn, the coop, the shed, ALL OF IT! It's _all _my work!" he chuckled proudly.

"This is my farm, Chelsea" Mark explained to me, but I had already guessed that.

We entered the house and Gannon set me down on a chair.

He wrung out his now soaking shirt and bowed somewhat humorously.

"I'll see you guys later then!" he said, lowering his voice. He then left the house.

"Alright then" Mark said, clapping his hands gently together. "The bath's just through that door. I'll dry your clothes and get something ready for you. I think I've still got some old clothes…" he instructed.

I nodded.

When I had finished my bath, I wrapped a towel around myself. I stepped out of the bathroom and saw that there were fresh clothes sitting on the floor next to the door, neatly folded.

I picked them up, closed the door and put them on.

The clothes obviously weren't Mark's, judging by how feminine they were.

I exited the bathroom once again, and shuffled painfully to sit down on the same chair I had about ten minutes ago. It had been dried, but it was still a bit wet. I didn't mind, though.

I peered around the room. It was large, and acted as a kitchen, a dining room and a bedroom.

Two beds, one single, one double were laid up next to each other in one corner.

In the single bed, something began to stir.

I jumped up in shock, secretly hoping it was Mark.

But instead of the farmer slipping out from under the bed sheets, it was a very small, brunette toddler. He set his blue eyes on me and clenched his teddy bear's hand tighter.

"Mommy?" he asked in such a small, airy voice.

I wanted to scream- he was so cute!

"N-no…I'm Chelsea" I reached out to shake his hand, but he dodged it by stepping back in fear. "Don't be scared" I said to him.

"Where's my papa?" he asked.

I didn't know either.

Just then, Mark entered the house. "Toby, you're up!" he ran to pick up the little boy.

I sat clueless.

"Chelsea, this is my son, Toby" Mark told me. Mark had seemed so young and innocent; it was a real eye-opener to see his two-year old kid standing in front of me.

"Nice to meet you, Toby" I tried to smile at him. I then turned to Mark again. "I didn't know you were married with a kid!"

His face darkened, and I knew I had said something I shouldn't have. "I was married to a woman who came to this island a season after myself, and she gave birth to Toby in the winter. Unfortunately, she was quite sensitive to the cold, and last season, she passed away" he sighed.

Toby had buried his face in his father's chest, hugging his eyeless bear.

I stared down at my clothes and blushed to think that I was wearing a dead woman's garments. It was a horrible thing to think, but I thought it anyway.

"I'm sorry" I finally said.

But Mark simply smiled and put Toby down. "It's fine, besides, I have a great life on this island. And you'll like it too!"

I raised my eyebrows.

"That's what I wanted to tell you- if you wanted, you could stay here, in this house for a trial period of one year, and see how you like it on this island. Do you think it's a good idea?" he asked me cheerfully.

I hesitated, happiness filling me to the brim, but nodded enthusiastically, almost falling off of my seat.

"That's great!" Mark clapped his hands together. "This'll be great- We'll be like a real family! Won't that be great, Toby?" he asked the little boy. But Toby just shot me a confused glance and nodded somewhat reluctantly.

"Before I forget to mention; make sure you tell me when your legs feel better, because then I can introduce you to the townspeople and maybe, if they're feeling okay by tomorrow, we can go to the Goddess Festival!"

The thought of going to a festival, where a lot of new people would be, almost made me jump for joy.

"They feel better!" I blurted out subconsciously.

Mark laughed at me and took my hand.

_Finally_, I thought, _A new Start…_


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Names were hard to remember. Natalie, Elliot, Taro, Felicia…Chen, Charlie…Gannon, Eliza…Denny…Lanna…Pierre…Mirabelle, Julia…Vaughn…Sabrina, Regis…Alisa, Nathan…Luke, Madelynn, Sean… I had no idea so many people lived on the island.

Meeting so many people was tiring. My legs still ached like hell, but because I had lied to Mark and Toby, and told them I was okay, I had to act like I was okay.

"There are two men who live in the jungle too" Mark said, gesturing to the thick trees over the river. "They're nice, don't get me wrong, but the younger one can be a handful. Do you want to go meet them?" he asked me.

I couldn't say no- I had to meet _everyone _on the island! Even if they were Tarzan jungle men who didn't speak a word of English!

I took a deep breath in, walked past the Diner and Café and walked over the moss-covered bridge to the jungle.

"So where do these guys live? Do they have some sort of hut or a campsite or something?" I asked.

Mark looked around. "They live just ahead, I think. They're house is hidden within the trees."

And it was. I never would have known that jungle dwellers were so talented in crafting houses in my old life.

Mark overtook me in walking pace and pushed open the wooden door with his shoulder, Toby in his arms.

"Wada, Shea, are you home?" he called.

"Mark here?" a voice came. When the door opened fully, two men were revealed.

Both were clad in leopard-skin loin cloths, but were many years apart.

One was about my age. He was probably just taller than me, and his face was painted with a few markings. His brown hair was spiked back and he wore a yellow headband around his head. I wondered- was this Shea or Wada?

The other was much older than him. His black hair was untidy and greasy, he also wore a headband, yet his bore a skull on it and a dead newt hung from his mouth.

"Mark bring friend?" the younger man asked, inspecting me thoroughly.

The spear he carried scared me- I felt like he had already stabbed me with it.

"Yes, this is my friend. Her name is Chelsea, and she'll be living on this island for the next year. Please make friends with her. Chelsea, this is Shea," he started, gesturing to the younger man "and Wada" he gestured to the other.

Shea grinned. "Chelsea's my friend now too! Yay!" he laughed.

Shea turned out to be nicer than I originally thought, although his was also naive and childish. I still hadn't heard a peep out of Wada…

"Girl…from sea…wash up…on beach… Wada saw…" he finally grunted.

"You saw me wash up onto the beach!?" I cried. "Did you see what became of the ship?"

But Wada shook his head. I had no idea why I was concerned about the ship- maybe I kind of missed the sound of my roommate's snoring ringing through my ears.

"That's a shame" I breathed.

Shea patted my head and smiled. "Chelsea's sad?" he asked.

I sighed, half-smiling. "No, I'm not sad. I'm happy, see?" I said, showing him a grin.

The jungle-boy nodded and retreated to the door. "Going hunting, will be back" he said, and then left.

"Well, let's go, Chelsea! It's getting darker, and Toby here's getting sleepy" Mark whispered to me. And I nodded. Sleep would be good; I could rest my legs…

Mark had bought a spare bed from Chen's shop and put it not far from the two others. It was quite large, not as large as Mark's, but it was comfortable and warmer than the ship beds.

I couldn't sleep.

"Chelsea?" came Toby's voice. I shot up in my bed, and saw that Toby, rubbing his eyes was standing at the foot of the bed.

"Oh, Toby, what's wrong?" I asked him.

He looked me in the eyes for the second time. "Bad dream…Can I…sleep in your bed...?"

I peered over to Mark's bed. "Why don't you ask your dad?" I asked.

Toby shook his head. "Daddy's asleep. If he doesn't get enough sleep, he won't work as good." Adorable.

With that answer, I nodded, and he climbed up onto the bed, wriggling under the covers and burying his face in the pillow.

The next day was Thursday, and according to Mark, it was the day of the Goddess Festival, 8th of spring.

I awoke next to Toby at 7 am the next morning. But Mark had awoken earlier than even me, who was usually the early bird.

He soon came in the door, however, smiling to himself and dripping in sweat.

"Hey, you're awake" he said when he noticed.

I nodded and got out of bed. My legs didn't ache a bit.

"The festival doesn't start until another three hours, so we've time to spare. I want to show you something I did yesterday. Come on!" he urged.

I wondered what it could be. But Mark's eager pulling at my arm broke my thoughts.

We arrived at his barn, which was situated at the other side of the field, opposite his house.

Inside were four cows and two sheep, all except one were full-grown and all were happily bobbing to and fro.

He directed me to a baby cow, who was cheerfully munching on some fodder that I would assume Mark put out for them all.

"This is my new calf, Cowvance. I got him yesterday when you were bathing, for you" Mark grinned.

"No way, you got me a cow!? They're supposed to be like super expensive, aren't they!?" I got on my knees and began to pat the awkward little cow.

"5000G, but it's no problem. Lately, I've been making a huge prophet, and you're part of the family now" Mark sat down on the floor, with was blanketed with a layer of hay, and was soon surrounded by his loving livestock.

"You're the best, Mark" I shot a sweet look at him, and he blushed.

"I'm going to get ready for the festival, are you coming back to the house?" he asked me.

But I shook my head.

Mark shrugged. "Alright then, but be sure to be back by nine. That's when we're leaving!"

So I took my time patting Cowvance, then I set off down the path to visit the beach.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

I stood on the pier, eyes fixed on the distance.

It was a little hard to believe- that only a day ago, maybe a little bit longer, I had floated out from that sea onto this island. It all happened so fast. Part of me was wishing this was all a dream, but I dismissed the thought and the feeling.

"Oh, hey, it's Chelsea!" a voice came behind me, startling me.

I spun around, anxious to see who awaited my gaze.

"Oh…Hi…It's Denny, right?" I sighed in relief.

The purple bandanna-wearing fisherman was standing on the shore, grinning his usual grin.

"Yup, it's Denny! You coming to the festival today?" he asked me.

I nodded, turning back to the sea. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" he said, coming to stand beside me.

"I guess so" I mumbled simply.

"Hm? What's wrong?"

I smiled innocently and shook my head. I didn't feel like speaking, for some reason.

"You know, I feel like we should be friends. We've all got to stick together, no matter what our past says about it" he sat down, hugging his legs.

"I guess so" I muttered again.

Denny chuckled. "I'm glad that the sea gave us you. We needed a little excitement!"

"You're glad?" I turned to him.

"Yeah, we needed some more cute girls around here! I know Mark's enjoying your stay here, even if you've only been here a day."

"That's good. Even if I'm looking forward to this year, I…I wonder what I would be doing right now if I hadn't caught that ship, or if the ship hadn't sunk…or" I held my head in confusion. "It still feels like one big dream!"

I felt Denny's arms around me. I had just met him, and he was comforting me like we had known each other all our lives. "No matter what you do, we'll all be here for you now. This year will be a blast for you and for everyone else" he whispered, holding me at arm's length and looking me in the eyes.

His face suddenly broke into a large, cheesy grin.

"So cute!" he breathed enthusiastically.

I blushed, but covered my face to hide it. "What time is it?" I asked, changing the subject dramatically.

"I don't know, quarter to nine?" he shrugged.

It was surprisingly accurate for a guess.

"I'll see you at the festival, goodbye!" I called as I ran off back to Mark's house.

I glanced back at him, only to see him waving on the pier.

"You're back, just in time" Mark greeted me. He had laid my now dry clothes on my bed, and was now freshly-showered.

"You can get changed now, where'd you go?"

I grabbed my clothes and walked into the bathroom before replying.

"I went to the beach. You know, that Denny is pretty nice" I laughed.

Mark laughed along with me.

Putting on my old clothes felt so… nostalgic. They no longer smelt of disgusting sea water, though.

I pulled my lemon-coloured shirt over my head then stepped out of the bathroom, slipping my arms through my red, short-sleeved jacket.

"Yeah, he's a good guy when he doesn't stink of fish" Mark said while tidying Toby's hair.

"Let's go!" Mark shot up with sudden enthusiasm.

Toby mimicked him cheerfully, and the two ran outside eagerly.

On the walk to the meadow, Mark and I talked about pointless things that you make conversation on while Toby sang 'Goddess, goddess festival! Let's all go to the festival!' over and over, gripping one of my hands and one of Mark's, walking happily in between us. It was the happiest I had seen him since meeting him. He no longer seemed like such a melancholy boy.

The bridge to the meadow was steady, and seemed newly-built, which I assume it was. I flicked back to images of Gannon bragging about his work to me, when I was hauled over his shoulder only a day ago…It was only yesterday…

I could hear the happy cries of others, laughing, shouting, music. It felt familiar, but at the same time, unfamiliar.

"Hey, it's the new girl!" a voice came, almost knocking me over as I stepped onto the soft green grass of the meadow.

I found myself being surrounded by four girls, all very different in appearance.

I remembered their names- the blonde one in the green dress was Lanna, the pink-haired stern looking one was Natalie, the shy glasses-wearing black-haired girl was Sabrina and Julia was the waitress-looking blonde one.

"H-hello…" I simply stuttered, not knowing what else to say.

"Kya! Come with us, we'll go talk to the boys!" Lanna squealed in excitement.

So they pulled me to where the group of young men on the island were standing and conversing, away from Mark and Toby.

Denny, Pierre and Elliot greeted me, but the animal trader Vaughn just grunted and lifted his head slightly.

I had fun, even in the first few minutes that I arrived.

Lanna was trying to hook me up with Vaughn, who just blushed and said nothing, Denny tried to hit on me, and I laughed quite a lot.

The festival started soon, and the four girls rushed to the middle of the meadow, positioning themselves in a certain order.

After a while of preparations, the music began and so did the ceremonial dance.

I went back to Mark and Toby and sat with them as the dance commenced.

"Made friends?" Mark asked me as Toby wriggled to get under my arm.

I nodded and smiled, then turned back to the festivities.

Alisa, the petite priestess thanked everyone for coming at the end, but invited everyone to stay for food. Toby had fallen asleep in Mark's arms, which obviously meant Mark was going home.

"You can stay, if you want" he smiled.

"No, I'll come too" I insisted, of course.

But as I was about to walk over the bridge, I felt something on my shoulder, stopping me in my tracks. I realized soon after that it was a hand, not some evil tentacle monster trying to kidnap me…

But what surprised me most of all was that it was Vaughn who was standing there behind me, blushing wildly and holding his cowboy hat to his eyes.

"H-hi…" he stuttered. It reminded me somewhat of myself.

"Hello, Vaughn. What can I do for you?" I tried to smile, despite the curiosity pulling at my heart.

"Well…I…I wanted to apologize, for acting that way in front of everyone. It's just…" he started.

"That's alright, really- just fun and games, right?"

I patted him on the shoulder then ran off to follow Mark and Toby who had been waiting patiently for me.

'Home' felt nice.

It was almost like… I knew I'd enjoy the year to come…

However, something felt off about this all…


End file.
